Small, inexpensive GPS jammers carried by truckers have caused the occasional shutdown of the Laas test installation at Newark Airport. The devices, powered by simply plugging into the cigarette lighter, are intended to foil interrogations of the truck's remotely installed GPS and its coupled cellphone by the trucking company's dispatcher to check on the vehicleπs location and progress.
No one has a firm estimate of the number of truck drivers who carry GPS jammers in their back pockets as they roll down the interstates: estimates vary from "a few thousand" to "tens of thousands." However, their jamming periods are usually fairly short and infrequent, and regular unscheduled stops in the same area could soon attract a dispatcher's attention. On the other hand, since there are not too many likely stopping places of interest on the New Jersey Turnpike abeam of EWR, it seems probable that some drivers are forgetting to unplug their jammers after their last unscheduled stops.
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